Cai Xianqing followed him down the corridor and said as he walked: "Tinglong is really optimistic. Although the emperor has not publicly criticized us, he has issued an explicit edict to stop the reform of land administration, and Zhu Yangrui will also escape justice. Exactly. Furthermore, the ministers, inspired by Zeng Liang, will definitely draw a clear line with the New Deal and side with the Chen Party... If this is the case, we will become even more isolated and helpless."
Ye Yongjia let out a long sigh: "I have no choice. I hesitated and lost my chance. I can't blame others. Now I can only break my front teeth and swallow it in my stomach. It's useless to worry about it. As for the ministers, most of them act according to the wind, so they don't need to pay attention to it all the time. Follow their movements.”
"But there is strength in numbers, you should know this. Why don't you let Dong Sheng follow..."
"Stop it." Ye Yongjia looked at the empty surroundings and waved his hands, "These matters cannot be explained clearly in a few words. Why not go to my mansion first and call other people to discuss it together."
"Everyone?" Cai Xianqing asked.
"That's right," Ye Yongjia nodded, "Including Lu Tingci, he must come too."
This is a big meeting that has not happened in a long time. Except for Dong and Wan, almost all the "Ye Party" gathered at Ye Yongjia's residence. Whether they were officials in important positions or some of the ministries' confidants, there were more than 20 people in total, all sitting in the hall. Set, talk and laugh happily.
Cui served them wine and food. Ye Yongjia greeted them for a while first. After the wine was half drunk, he put down his chopsticks and said, "I invite you all here not just for drinking, but to discuss important matters. Now Chen Dang I have won over Zeng Liang and forced the emperor to ban the New Deal. The situation is critical, do you have any suggestions?"
After hearing this, everyone looked at each other in confusion, put away their cheerful expressions, but remained silent.
"Is there no one to share my worries?" Ye Yongjia suddenly showed a little disappointment.
"Ye Bingbu, I think this matter can be easily solved." Cui Yi shook the wine glass in his hand and said softly, exhaling the smell of alcohol.
"Oh?" Ye Yongjia smiled a little, "Now that the Chen Party has so many people, how can Chief Cui say it so easily? Could it be that...you have a clever plan?"
"Exactly." Cui Yi stood up and bowed to him, "Master Ye, don't you know the principle of 'a blessing in disguise'? With more people, they can take the initiative, but it also exposes a lot of people." It's like holding a double-edged sword."
He immediately walked out of the banquet and walked in the middle of the hall: "The problem lies with these newly attached ministers. They are just following the wind. They are not closely related to the Chen party, and naturally they are not affected by the Chen thieves." But they are unwilling to give up the opportunity to make meritorious deeds, and they will definitely attack us desperately. If we can set a trap to induce them to attack, we can turn the danger into safety in one fell swoop, and the matter can be settled."
"Yes! Yes! Aren't we just afraid of that cunning and cunning Tongpao Chen? Without his command, this group of rabble will be nothing!" Someone at the table shouted loudly, and everyone around him also agreed.
However, Cai Xianqing's expression was still heavy and he said dubiously: "But the prohibition was an explicit decree issued by the emperor himself. Even if he could deal with the ministers and accuse them of 'calling the crowd to form a party', this edict would not be able to do so." Take it back. Unless you have a way to involve the emperor in this matter."
Cui Yi smiled and said, "I don't know if Mr. Cai remembers that the emperor originally wanted King Yi to live in the palace and ordered the Ministry of Works to build Xiyuan. Later, due to busy official duties, he ordered the construction to stop."
Cai Xianqing's eyes widened and she nodded frequently: "I remembered!"
"Isn't that easy? For example, we can ask Lu Yushi to impeach a very popular official, saying that he has evil intentions for stopping the construction of Xiyuan; then we can make a strong statement in the book and ask the emperor to issue an edict to start construction. So two If you do this, it will surely provoke the crowd into revolt, and you can predict what will happen next.”
Ye Yongjia was convinced, and his eyes were full of relief: "Master Cui has often come up with ingenious ideas to save me in urgent need. He is really a shrewd and capable person, capable of entrusting important tasks. You should ask him for advice more, if you can learn such things In this matter, the New Deal must move forward without hesitation."
Didn't everyone know that Cui Yi was Master Ye's brother-in-law? When they heard what he said, they all tried to flatter him and only said what he said. Ming Huiguang looked at him coldly. Although he was not happy, he was concerned about Ye Yongjia's face and had to agree with him. Against your will.
After the meeting ended, Lu Tingci quickly changed into court clothes, returned to the censor's desk, and began to draft an impeachment memorial. As for who to impeach, he couldn't help but have some entanglements in his mind: "Although most of the Manchu ministers are attached to the Chen party, they have different political opinions and are not some crimes that are harmful to nature. If someone is randomly chosen to impeach, wouldn't it be unfair to a loyal minister?" '
So I thought about it and came up with a name: "It's not difficult to find a villain with a bad record in the court, but if you want to cause shock, I'm afraid the only one is Prime Minister Su Zongshan." He used to form cliques for personal gain, but now he is sitting on a plain diet. He is really hateful. Taking the opportunity to impeach him can be regarded as speaking out for justice. Having made up his mind, he drafted the draft, thought about it several times, and finally submitted it the next morning.
The emperor had just woken up and was washing up when the Ministry of Internal Affairs delivered a stack of memorials to him. He didn't care at first, but he happened to catch a glimpse of the document on the top, which read neatly written in large characters, "I impeach the Prime Minister and Supervisor for his lack of care". He was shocked, suddenly woke up, and asked the eunuch on the side to uncover it. The eunuch had never seen the emperor with such an expression before, and he was so frightened that he untied the rope and took out the memorial written by Lu Tingci.
The emperor read it several times and suddenly turned from shock to anger. He slammed the memorial and opened his eyes and cursed: "How dare Su Zongshan do this!"
The eunuch timidly raised his eyelids and said, "If Your Majesty wants to issue a decree, I will do it now."
"I..." The emperor suddenly regretted his words in the middle of his sentence. He smacked his lips and said: "After all, this is a matter between their ministers. I have no intention of intervening. You can declare this to the ministers first. Let them discuss it themselves.”
The eunuch immediately accepted the order and went to the main hall with this memorial in his arms.
Just as the morning court was about to begin, all the officials gathered in the court room. When they heard someone shouting "All officials listen to the decree" several times, they all walked out. Seeing the eunuch jumping off his horse, he hurriedly knelt down and worshiped.
The eunuch dusted off his trousers, held up the memorial and said: "Your Majesty received a memorial today. It was a certain imperial censor who impeached the current prime minister Su Zongshan. In order to prevent this person from falsely accusing the minister, I have specially asked my father-in-law to announce this to you. , discuss right and wrong together! Mr. Su, do you have anything to say at this time?"
Su Zongshan had no expression on his face. He only took one step forward, kowtowed and said, "Su is speechless. I just want to know which censor played it. I kindly ask my father-in-law to point out this person's name."
